1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a brush, in particular to a multi-function brush for overdenture patients care.
2. Description of Prior Art
With the remarkable advance in dental technology, various dentures are developed to replace missing teeth in an oral cavity of a patient. In general, dentures are divided into two categories: fixed dentures and removable dentures. A fixed denture is one that is permanently fixed to a tooth roots in the oral cavity by cement or fixed to dental implants by screws and bolts. A removable denture is one that is removably overlay to tooth roots in the oral cavity, so that the patient wearing a removable denture can take this denture out of the oral cavity or put is back based on his/her need. The removable dentures are further divided into two categories. A removable single denture and/or complete denture is worn by a patient who is missing all teeth in maxillary arch and/or mandibular arch. If some of the selected tooth roots remain in the oral cavity and some designed dental implants are implanted in the selected locations, such a removable denture is called a removable overdenture.
The construction and maintenance of the removable overdenture are more complicated than those of the removable complete denture. First, it has to verify whether the remaining tooth root of the patient is still usable. If the tooth root is unusable, an artificial root (i.e., implant fixture) has to be implanted into the oral cavity at a position where diagnosis and design indicated, thereby replacing the tooth root and providing support, retention and stability to the overdenture. Next, the overdenture is fabricated by acrylic resin to match the profile of an oral anatomical foundation of the patient. One surface of the overdenture which is brought into direct contact with the roots and residual alveolar ridge in the oral cavity is called the tissue surface, and the other surface of the overdenture is called the denture surface. The denture surface is divided into an occlusal surface with a profile of white denture teeth and an acrylic resin surface with a profile of missing alveolar bone and connective tissue.
In order to secure the overdenture to the residual natural root or implanted artificial root, a female part of dental attachment is first fabricated into the residual root or the implant root. Then, the tissue surface of the overdenture is provided with a male part of dental attachment. The connection between the male and the female parts of the dental attachment makes the overdenture to be firmly retained and supported by the attachment and stabilized at the oral cavity. The connection between the male and the female dental attachment can be achieved by engagement between a casted female element and a nylon male element or pre-fabricated magnetic attraction between two magnetic bodies. In addition, the splinting of separated implant fixtures at the same arch requires a casted metal tissue bar.
According to the above, it is apparent that the cleaning of the overdenture involves a step of cleaning the denture surface and the tissue surface, a step of cleaning the male dental attachments and the female dental attachments, and a step of cleaning the residual roots or implant roots in the residual ridges. Furthermore, the overdenture, the dental attachments and the roots have different cleaning demands. Especially, unlike the tissue surface and the denture surface of the overdenture that are both made by resin, the connective tissue adjacent to natural roots or artificial roots is still of vital tissue and thus cannot be cleaned by the rigid brushes for cleaning the acrylic resin. Thus, it is necessary to use another semi-tufted brushes to clean the vital connective tissue adjacent to the natural roots or the artificial roots. Further, the user cannot see the positions of the natural roots or artificial roots clearly, and some roots are even located near molar teeth in the posterior areas of the oral cavity. Thus, the brushes for cleaning the connective tissue and roots in the oral cavity have to be designed more carefully. As a result, the user often needs to buy two different brushes. One is used to clean the overdenture outside the mouth, and the other is used to clean the connective tissue and natural or artificial roots inside the mouth, which causes the inconvenience in use and increase in money.
Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventor proposes a novel and practicable multi-function brush which can be used inside or outside the mouth, all within one single brush.